diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..44579dd717f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, zlib ? null, zlibSupport ? true, bzip2
+, gdbmSupport ? true, gdbm ? null
+, sqlite ? null
+, db4 ? null
+, readline ? null
+, openssl ? null
+, tk ? null
+, tcl ? null
+, libX11 ? null
+, xproto ? null
+, arch ? null
+, sw_vers ? null
+, ncurses ? null
+}:
+
+assert zlibSupport -> zlib != null;
+assert gdbmSupport -> gdbm != null;
+assert stdenv.isDarwin -> arch != null;
+assert stdenv.isDarwin -> sw_vers != null;
+
+with stdenv.lib;
+
+let
+
+  majorVersion = "2.7";
+  version = "${majorVersion}";
+
+  buildInputs =
+    optional (stdenv ? gcc && stdenv.gcc.libc != null) stdenv.gcc.libc ++
+    [bzip2]
+    ++ optional zlibSupport zlib
+    ++ optional gdbmSupport gdbm
+    ++ optional (sqlite != null) sqlite
+    ++ optional (db4 != null) db4
+    ++ optional (readline != null) readline
+    ++ optional (openssl != null) openssl
+    ++ optional (tk != null) tk
+    ++ optional (tcl != null) tcl
+    ++ optional (libX11 != null) libX11
+    ++ optional (xproto != null) xproto
+    ++ optional (arch != null) arch
+    ++ optional (sw_vers != null) sw_vers
+    ++ optional (ncurses != null) ncurses
+    ;
+
+in
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
+  name = "python-${version}";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "http://www.python.org/ftp/python/${version}/Python-${version}.tar.bz2";
+    sha256 = "935d3316edfec5eb98c2f6930756b47b00dc27192541e62d6fd0077ffa008af8";
+  };
+
+  patches = [
+    # Look in C_INCLUDE_PATH and LIBRARY_PATH for stuff.
+    ./search-path.patch
+  ];
+
+  inherit buildInputs;
+  C_INCLUDE_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/include") buildInputs);
+  LIBRARY_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/lib") buildInputs);
+  configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-threads --enable-unicode --with-wctype-functions";
+
+  preConfigure = ''
+    # Purity.
+    for i in /usr /sw /opt /pkg; do
+      substituteInPlace ./setup.py --replace $i /no-such-path
+    done
+  '' + (if readline != null then ''
+    export NIX_LDFLAGS="$NIX_LDFLAGS -lncurses"
+  '' else "");
+
+  setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
+
+  postInstall = ''
+    rm -rf "$out/lib/python${majorVersion}/test"
+  '';
+
+  passthru = {
+    inherit zlibSupport;
+    sqliteSupport = sqlite != null;
+    db4Support = db4 != null;
+    readlineSupport = readline != null;
+    opensslSupport = openssl != null;
+    tkSupport = (tk != null) && (tcl != null);
+    libPrefix = "python${majorVersion}";
+  };
+
+  enableParallelBuilding = true;
+
+  meta = {
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.simons ];
+  };
+} // (if stdenv.isDarwin then { NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-msse2" ; patches = [./search-path.patch]; } else {} ) )
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/search-path.patch b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/search-path.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e7b7526c0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/search-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+diff -rc Python-2.4.4-orig/setup.py Python-2.4.4/setup.py
+*** Python-2.4.4-orig/setup.py	2006-10-08 19:41:25.000000000 +0200
+--- Python-2.4.4/setup.py	2007-05-27 16:04:54.000000000 +0200
+***************
+*** 279,288 ****
+          # Check for AtheOS which has libraries in non-standard locations
+          if platform == 'atheos':
+              lib_dirs += ['/system/libs', '/atheos/autolnk/lib']
+-             lib_dirs += os.getenv('LIBRARY_PATH', '').split(os.pathsep)
+              inc_dirs += ['/system/include', '/atheos/autolnk/include']
+-             inc_dirs += os.getenv('C_INCLUDE_PATH', '').split(os.pathsep)
+  
+          # OSF/1 and Unixware have some stuff in /usr/ccs/lib (like -ldb)
+          if platform in ['osf1', 'unixware7', 'openunix8']:
+              lib_dirs += ['/usr/ccs/lib']
+--- 279,289 ----
+          # Check for AtheOS which has libraries in non-standard locations
+          if platform == 'atheos':
+              lib_dirs += ['/system/libs', '/atheos/autolnk/lib']
+              inc_dirs += ['/system/include', '/atheos/autolnk/include']
+  
++         lib_dirs += os.getenv('LIBRARY_PATH', '').split(os.pathsep)
++         inc_dirs += os.getenv('C_INCLUDE_PATH', '').split(os.pathsep)
++         
+          # OSF/1 and Unixware have some stuff in /usr/ccs/lib (like -ldb)
+          if platform in ['osf1', 'unixware7', 'openunix8']:
+              lib_dirs += ['/usr/ccs/lib']
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/setup-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/setup-hook.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..290525c3571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/setup-hook.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+addPythonPath() {
+    addToSearchPathWithCustomDelimiter : PYTHONPATH $1/lib/python2.6/site-packages
+}
+
+toPythonPath() {
+    local paths="$1"
+    local result=
+    for i in $paths; do
+        p="$i/lib/python2.6/site-packages"
+        result="${result}${result:+:}$p"
+    done
+    echo $result
+}
+
+envHooks=(${envHooks[@]} addPythonPath)
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 122951b2dd2..063e49e9401 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -2075,6 +2075,7 @@ let
   python = if getConfig ["python" "full"] false then pythonFull else pythonBase;
   python25 = if getConfig ["python" "full"] false then python25Full else python25Base;
   python26 = if getConfig ["python" "full"] false then python26Full else python26Base;
+  python27 = if getConfig ["python" "full"] false then python27Full else python27Base;
   pythonBase = python26Base;
   pythonFull = python26Full;
 
@@ -2116,6 +2117,25 @@ let
     ncurses = if getConfig ["python" "curses"] true then ncurses else null;
   });
 
+  python27Base = makeOverridable (import ../development/interpreters/python/2.7) {
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv zlib bzip2 gdbm;
+    arch = if stdenv.isDarwin then darwinArchUtility else null;
+    sw_vers = if stdenv.isDarwin then darwinSwVersUtility else null;
+  };
+
+  python27Full = lowPrio (python27Base.override {
+    # FIXME: We lack ncurses support, needed, e.g., for `gpsd'.
+    db4 = if getConfig ["python" "db4Support"] true then db4 else null;
+    sqlite = if getConfig ["python" "sqliteSupport"] true then sqlite else null;
+    readline = if getConfig ["python" "readlineSupport"] true then readline else null;
+    openssl = if getConfig ["python" "opensslSupport"] true then openssl else null;
+    tk = if getConfig ["python" "tkSupport"] true then tk else null;
+    tcl = if getConfig ["python" "tkSupport"] true then tcl else null;
+    libX11 = if getConfig ["python" "tkSupport"] true then xlibs.libX11 else null;
+    xproto = if getConfig ["python" "tkSupport"] true then xlibs.xproto else null;
+    ncurses = if getConfig ["python" "curses"] true then ncurses else null;
+  });
+
   python31Base = lowPrio (makeOverridable (import ../development/interpreters/python/3.1) {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv zlib bzip2 gdbm;
     arch = if stdenv.isDarwin then darwinArchUtility else null;
@@ -3934,6 +3954,13 @@ let
       setuptools = setuptools_python26;
     };
 
+  buildPython27Package =
+    import ../development/python-modules/generic {
+      inherit makeWrapper lib;
+      python = python26;
+      setuptools = setuptools_python27;
+    };
+
   pythonPackages = python26Packages;
 
   python25Packages = recurseIntoAttrs (import ./python-packages.nix {
@@ -3946,6 +3973,12 @@ let
     buildPythonPackage = buildPython26Package;
   });
 
+  python27Packages = recurseIntoAttrs (import ./python-packages.nix {
+    inherit pkgs;
+    python = python27;
+    buildPythonPackage = buildPython27Package;
+  });
+
   foursuite = callPackage ../development/python-modules/4suite { };
 
   bsddb3 = callPackage ../development/python-modules/bsddb3 { };
@@ -4004,6 +4037,11 @@ let
     python = python26;
   };
 
+  setuptools_python27 = builderDefsPackage (import ../development/python-modules/setuptools) {
+    inherit makeWrapper;
+    python = python27;
+  };
+
   wxPython = wxPython26;
 
   wxPython26 = callPackage ../development/python-modules/wxPython/2.6.nix {